Jubilation As FG pays allowance
The Federal Government has released funds to pay the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance to academic staff of federal universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education for January to August 2026.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced the development on Wednesday shortly after inaugurating the Ministerial Committee on Accreditation.
Alausa said the eight-month payment was released under the 2025 agreement between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
CATA is designed to help academic staff purchase materials and tools needed for teaching, research, and other academic responsibilities.
The minister said the affected tertiary institutions should have received notification of the release and were expected to commence payments to eligible academic employees.
“The Office of the Minister of Education is happy to announce that the full CATA payment has now been released by the Federal Government from January to August 2026 to all universities, all polytechnics and colleges of education,” Alausa said.
He added, “All these institutions should have received notification to start paying CATA to all academic staff.”
The minister did not state the total amount released by the government or the amount individual academic staff members would receive.
While academic employees are expected to benefit immediately from the release, Alausa said funds for non-academic workers were still being processed.
According to him, the government expects the money to become available within weeks.
“And also, the payment to non-academic staff, we’re hoping that these funds will be made available, hopefully, in the next few weeks,” he said.
Alausa presented the development as part of the Tinubu administration’s efforts to improve working conditions in public tertiary institutions.
“This is another indication of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to our academic and non-academic staff,” the minister said.
He added that the President had made staff welfare a priority as part of the administration’s education agenda.
Alausa said the government’s interventions in the education sector were not limited to salaries and allowances.
According to him, the administration has also increased investment in infrastructure across tertiary institutions while implementing interventions in basic and postgraduate education.
“Beyond prioritising the welfare of our staff, he has also significantly invested in infrastructure at all our tertiary institutions and also basic and postgraduate education,” he said.
The minister maintained that the government’s broader objective was to improve the quality of education available to Nigerian children.
“This is a President that believes so much in education. He has delivered beyond his promises to ensure that every single child in this country gets the highest quality of education comparable to anywhere in the world,” Alausa added.
He commended Tinubu for what he described as transformative interventions in the sector, while reiterating the Federal Government’s commitment to implementing agreements reached with tertiary institution workers
